Jarryd Hayne’s sexual assault accuser deleted many texts between herself and NRL star, court told
A woman who accused Jarryd Hayne of sexual assault deleted a slew of text messages from the former NRL star and other people before handing her phone over to police, a jury has been told.
Mr Hayne’s NSW District Court retrial is nearing its end, with a jury hearing seven days of evidence after the Dally M winner pleaded not guilty to two counts of sexual assault without consent.
He denies sexually assaulting the woman at her home on Newcastle’s outskirts in September 2018, on the night of the NRL grand final, claiming they engaged in consensual sexual acts.
The former footy star is accused of pulling off the woman’s pants before allegedly performing oral and digital sexual acts on her without her consent, causing cuts and substantial bleeding.
The officer-in-charge of investigating the alleged sexual assault took to the witness stand on Wednesday where he revealed he was contacted by the NRL Integrity Unit.
Jarryd Hayne’s accuser deleted multiple text messages before handing over her phone, the trial was told (Hayne is pictured outside court on Wednesday with wife Amellia Bonnici)
The former NRL star is standing trial for alleged sexual assault dating back to 2018
Under cross examination by defence barrister Margaret Cunneen SC, Detective Inspector Eugene Stek from the NSW Sex Crimes Squad was asked about messages which had been deleted off the alleged victim’s phone.
The court was told the woman willingly handed her phone over to investigators in November 2018.
However, Detective Inspector Stek said a number of texts had come out at a later time that he was not aware of.
‘Can I suggest to you about 19 messages to or from Mr Hayne had been deleted on her phone by the time she provided it to police?’ Ms Cunneen questioned.
Detective Inspector Stek said it was dependent on the date of the phone’s forensic examination.
He conceded a ‘large number of messages’ had been deleted before police received the phone.
‘Had she told you about that or not, sir?’ Ms Cunneen asked.
Detective Inspector Stek responded: ‘no’.
The jury was told the missing messages were either later discovered by police during a forensic analysis of her phone via ‘Cellbrite’, or through Mr Hayne’s legal team at his first trial.
Earlier, Mr Hayne sat in the witness box as the jury was played the final recording of his prior evidence, where he described the alleged victim as being ‘full of sh*t’.
Hours of Mr Hayne’s recorded evidence has been played to the jury this week, with the final hour played on Wednesday.
Hayne has denied accusations that he performed oral and digital sex without consent
In his final questions by the then Crown prosecutor, Mr Hayne was asked why he was ‘fuming’ after a woman sent him a text saying she was in physical pain.
‘I know I’ve talked about sex and stuff so much but I didn’t want to do that after knowing the taxi was waiting for you,’ the text read.
‘I thought you would have at least stayed. I am hurting really badly. I told my mum you got a nose bleed but I’m sitting here in my room crying because I feel weird.’
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